It’s that time of year where political ads sweep across the landscape, suffocating any consumers of television or radio and make you yearn for a time when the most effective tools for communication were carrier pigeons. If you happen to live in a swing state, it’s 1,000 times worse than you can even realize. If you live in Ohio, then welcome to the sixth circle of hell.
Ohio is the subject of one of the hotly contested US Senate races in the country with Republican Bernie Moreno looking to unseat Democrat Sherrod Brown. Political control in the upper chamber of congress could be on the line in the race, which has led to tens of millions of dollars in ads flooding the zone. And not even NFL telecasts are safe.
Viewers on Fox 28 in Columbus actually missed the opening kickoff of the Cincinnati Bengals-Carolina Panthers game over the weekend because a Moreno ad ran long into the game broadcast.
If you thought political ads during sports was getting out of control, Sinclair owned @fox28columbus actually missed kickoff of the Bengals vs. Panthers game for a back to back Bernie Moreno ads. pic.twitter.com/72hDBEZiDN
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) October 1, 2024
Thankfully, nothing of real importance happened on the kickoff, in spite of the NFL trying to force some action with their new rules this season. Columbus viewers joined the game at least in time for the first play from scrimmage. Looking around at some of the other affiliates in the area, there was some slight variance for when the commercials ended and the game broadcast began, although they all pretty much joined in plenty of time for the opening kickoff.
While this may be one slight annoyance, it’s a reminder that political ads have become so ubiquitous that sometimes it seems like the game is actually the commercial break from the non-stop noise that election season brings. Forget games behind paywalls for streaming platforms, how much would swing state residents be willing to pay for a game broadcast that wasn’t filled with political ads?
About Matt Yoder